Cutting machine



A. MONACO CUTTING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet l F:"Lled Dc. 14, 1925 May 22,192s.

May 22, 192s.

A. MONACO CUTTING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 14, 1925 Patented`MeyY 22, 192s.

ANTONIO MoNAoo, or ELMHURST, `NEW Yorin.A Y

CUTTING MACHIN.

Application filed Deeember 14, 1925. 'Serial Ne. 75,436.

This invention relates to cutting machines, and particularly to amachine for use in cutting pastry, altho'ugh'it may be used in con-`nection with other food products.` [Suchmafchines have hithertopresented certainedisadvantages, one of the most serious of which is thegumming or sticking Vof the edges of the knives. This may beparticularly the case when certain kinds of filled pastries yor cakes,such as those having a core of fruit or iam, are to be cut. l/Vhen theedges of the nives become dirty a. sharp 7and complete cutv frequentlybecomes impossible and it 'may be necessary topass the knives a secondtime through thesame cut, thereby causing Acrumbling and waste of thepastry. In this way, an entire pan of pastry may sometimes be ruined,since lthe resulting product `may be unfit for sale.

I have overcome these difficulties by providing means for washing orcleansing the .knives of the cutting machine as often as may benecessary. Moreover, according to my invention this washing may be per@formed without substantial loss of time, and without dulling or injuryof the knives.

According to my preferred practice, the' pastry' isl baked in the formof bars which are placed 'side by side in a cake pan. These bars" arecut Vinto cakes of the proper length bythe simultaneous transversemotion ofv anassembly of aligned, spaced knives, eachpastrybar beingthus-divided into a numberl of' cakes one greater than the number ofknives. The pastry bars are successively traversed by the knives untilthe entire cake pan is divided into cakes. A new pan full of pastry barsis then substituted for the old one, and the knives moved back again,cut-V ting the new pan. As frequently as may be necessary Vthe knives,are passed through a washing trough, between cuts, whereby gumming orsticking is prevented.y

' Certain specific embodiments of my invention'are shown in theaccompaying drawingsv in which Fig'. lis in part avertical longitucdinal 'section and in part an elevation of a machine embodying myinvention; Fig. 2 isv inpart at'ranverse section alongl the line aa ofFig. 1'; Fig. 3 is a partial vertical longitudina'l section'ofanother'embodiment,ofik

myinvention; Fig. et is vaA partial transverse` section along the ,linebb of Fig. 3;Fig'. 5 is a partial vertical longitudinal` section ofstill another embodiment; Fig. 6 i`s`a"partial'` transverse vseCtLQIlalong the line 0 0 of Fig.4

handle (12) above the knives (5). vspacing element (13.) maybe a solidpiece,

5; and Figs. 7 and8 are details ofdifferent types `of knife holders usedwith these machines.

` In these drawings (l) represents a frame in connection of anysuitable,construction upon which is carried a cutting "table -or supportrv(2) for the reception of a cake or pastry pan which'may beproperly'positioned bymeans .i

Vof pan guides (4) which are so arranged as to allowY the free'passageof the knives. In

the pan the pastry bars are arrangedto l,

lie transversely ofthe machine, as explained above. Circular knives (5)are mounted upon shafts (6), andindividually supported byA meansofknife-holders (7 shown in- Figs. 7 'and 8, from a common `shaft v(8).

This'shaft' (S) is supported at its extremities Y h by rollers (9)running upon rails or tracks The shaft (8) lisconnectedby means ofsidemembers (11) to the ope'rators han; dle (12), and a spacing element (13)may be attachedto the side members (11) in such 1 away as to supportthemand thefoperartlplfs 1s or may be composed of two depending memfbers attached oneto each side member, (11), with a y transverse memberuniting Atheir lower ends`, or may be otherwise suitably. arranged. Itsfunction' is to support the side (members (11) above theknives (5). Tothis end it is attached to, the members (11), but merely rests upon theknife holders (7), or the higher of them.l Theindividual knife holdersl(7) aretherefore free to drop below y this spacing element (13)', sincethey are Aseparately supported from the shaft (8). In this waytheindividual knives follow theirregularitiesofthe bottom of thepan, whileall the knives may be simultaneously moved transversely across the pan(3)1 by means ofy the handle '(12). *Each circular knife rotatesseparately upon v,its supporting shaft f (6) by virture of its Contactwiththe bottom ofthe `pan, while .the entire knife assembly pan" as themay be filled with fresh waterat intervals,..

or a stream ofrclean water may be kept continuously' flowing through'thetank by suitableinlet 'and 'outlet'pipes,'as at 15 andv 16. Runninglongitudinally 4for the entire length tithe ,mahneare a series' of knifeguidesk 17, which'serve to properly position the circular knives intraversing both the cake pan and the washing trough.

vknives are lifted from the `pan they ,may

safely `rest upon they lniife-raising member (18,) while a new panbeinginserted. At the end away from theoperator thecamshapedknife-raising member adjoins a false bottom20, prefcreablycontinuously curved, placed in the' washing trough 14. On passing overthe knite-raisingmember (18) the knives ride' through the trough (14e)on this Ifalse bottom, rotating by virtue of their contact therewith,Aand are thus thoroughly cleansed. TheA falsebottom (20) may beperforatedas at (21), to allow free passage of fresh water as well asthe escape of washed oii particles of pastry. 7

The continued passage of the knives over the knife-raising members (18)and along ,the false bottom (20) may produce unnecessary dulling, and toavoid thisI employ the arrangement shown in lgs. 3 and 1. A'

transverse member 22 is supported from the knife assembly, as 'lorinstance from the two outside knife holders,l and vfrom'thismember (22)a transverse shaft (23) is supported by depending members (241).;`Thisshaft (23) carries rollers v(25) which runV on tracks or rails (26)beneath whichthe pan (3) is in-v serted. i 'Fliese rails (26) areprovided with raised portions ('27), at the end near the operator, onwhich the rollers (25) will ride in such a way asl to lift thelknivcsvfrom the pan.l The lower portions of the rails (26) are so positionedthat the knives (5) will ride yupon the bottolnof the pan, ywhile thetransverse member (22), which may-be -liastened only to the outsideknifev holders, does not materially interfere with the individual playof the inner knives, which are still free to. follow the irregularitiesof the pan. A second raised portion '(28), ,of the rails (26), issopositioned as to lift the knives from the pan into the washingftrough,the rails.t (26) again descending upon they far side of the raisedportion inl order to allow the knives to dip into'th, water. ',Bythismeans undue dulli'ngfof lthe knivesmy be pre- .ventedn I Anotherarrangement is shown in Figs. 5

and. 6j.' The erClilakivesare here mounted in niife-lholdfeijsv of thetypev shown in Fig. 8. I provide each knife withl two. collars (29),attached'one onefach sidethereof, andrevolvinvention.

the bottom of the cake pan; while lthe portions ci' rails (30) situatedoverthe washing trough are sufliciently low so that the knives dip intothe water.` The knives are rotated vby virtue oic the Contact betweencollars (29) and rails (30), so that in traversing the washing troughthey are thoroughly cleansed. By this arrangement 'there is nointerference with the individual suspension of theV knives which areaccordingly free'to follow the irregularities of the' bottom of the cakepan. Dulling ot the knives by the knife-raising members and' falsebottomof the water tank, of Figs. 1 and 2, is also avoided.

" The preferred mode of operation of my invention willbe olea-r frominspection ofthe drawings. The pastry is placed inpans for baking, inthe iorm of the bars above reterred to. rl`he pastry pans aretheninserted in the cutting machine as described, with the pastry barsarranged transversely to the direction of motion of the knives. knifeassembly is then caused to traverse the pan, the pastry bars beingcutinto cakes. The knives are Vthen lifted'fromthe pan by means of theknife-raising Ymechanism `described, yThe pan'of out pastryy is removedand an uncut one substituted; The knives are then passed in the reversedirection through thispan. Each pan is subjected to onlya single`passage of the knives. At every,

second passage the knives `reach1 the` end of the machine at which islocated the washing trough. They maybe washed it necessary. Several cutsmay usuall)7 be made, however, between washings. i i 'V V` It will beobvious that considerable variations bothV in the structure of thecutting machine and its mode of operation may be made without departingfrom the spirit of the' pan. kThis might be eut into cakes .by turningthe pan through an angle of 9,00 between cuts. Again, various forms 'ofpower maybe substituted for the'manual operation of the knife assembly.These andother vari? ations are Within the Score ofmy invention. IClaim: o

The

les

A For example, the pastry,v `might be baked in one solid piece, `fillingsaid cutting table and said Washing trough.

2. The combination, in a cutting machine, of a cutting table, a knifeassembly, a Washing trough, and means for conveying the knives betweensaid cutting table and said trough, said means comprising a plurality ofrails and means associated With said knives for causing them to followlthe contour of said rails, said rails being so shaped that said knivesdescend freely upon .said cutting table and into said Washing trough butare lifted over the region between said table and said trough.

3. The combination, in a cutting machine,l

of a cutting table, a knife assembly including a plurality of separateknife holders, a knife carried by each of said hol-ders, a shaft forsupporting1 each of 4said knife holders individually, means associatedwith said shaft for controlling the transverse motion of said knifeassembly, a plurality of rails associated with said cutting table, asecond shaft associated with said knife assembly,

and means carried by saidseeond shaft and r sad cutting tabl-e andWashing trough, .said

rails being so shaped and positioned that said knives descend freelyupon -said cutting table and into said Washing trough but are liftedover the lregion between said table and said trough.

In testimony whereof, I aiix my signature. y L

ANTONIO MONACO.

